Editorial | Take country back from gun violence

Michael Arnold, 59, was a Navy veteran who loved his work, wife, children and an elderly mother. For a hobby, he was building a light airplane at home.

Kathleen Gaarde, 63, a wife and mother, hoped to retire soon and join her husband, already retired from the Navy.

And Frank Kohler, 50, was a former Rotary Club president who enjoyed playing the role of "King Oyster" in crown and robe at an annual oyster festival in his Maryland hometown. He leaves a wife and two daughters.

The three were among 12 workers who died in a mass shooting Monday at a U.S. naval complex in Washington.

The gunman, Aaron Alexis, 34, fatally shot by police, was a contract employee and former naval reservist being treated for serious mental illness. He brought with him a shotgun he apparently had no difficulty obtaining despite his mental illness and two past arrests for firearms offenses.

His victims join the nearly 12,000 people each year in America murdered by firearms.

His victims also join the more than 8,000 people slain since the Newtown, Conn., school shooting of 20 first-graders and six adults in December that so horrified the nation it almost prompted Congress to enact meaningful curbs on firearms.

But a majority of Congress, thoroughly bullied by the National Rifle Association, refused to pass even minimal firearms restrictions such as closing the gun-show loophole that allows people to buy firearms at gun shows without the identification and background check required by a licensed firearms dealer.

And banning the sale of military-style assault rifles is out of the question for elected officials in Congress - even though they have become the weapon of choice in mass slayings including at Newtown and at a crowded, Aurora, Colo. movie theater in 2012 where a man opened fire, killing 12 people.

In the absence of action by Congress, some states have taken the lead.

But in Colorado, it cost two veteran lawmakers their jobs after a virulent campaign by the NRA and other gun extremists led to their recall in a special election. Senate President John Morse and state Sen. Angela Giron, both Democrats, were ousted after voting for stricter guns laws.

Other states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware and New York, also have enacted tougher gun laws even as other states, mostly led by Republicans, have moved to loosen firearm regulations.

That includes Missouri, where extremists in the legislature enacted a law to exempt that state from federal gun regulation - a blatantly unconstitutional measure that rightly was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon. Still gun extremists are pushing to enact similiar laws in other states, according to a New York Times report Monday.

The gun lobby is powerful, well-funded and aggressive, driven by the highly lucrative sale of firearms and ammunition.

Americans who value human life over gun industry profits must stand up, speak out and above all, vote.

We can no longer afford to elect extremist lawmakers who favor gun sales over lives.

The tea party talks a lot about "taking back America." It's time to take it back from gun violence.

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Editorial | Take country back from gun violence

Aaron Alexis, 34, fatally shot by police, was a contract employee and former naval reservist being treated for serious mental illness. He brought with him to a U.S. naval complex a shotgun he